


Once, on a Darkened Road

by Songstress21 (Cantatrice18)



Category: Die Zauberflöte | The Magic Flute - Mozart/Schikaneder
Genre: Backstory, F/M, Memories, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 15:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1147880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Songstress21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarastro remembers the night he spent with the Queen, the guilt that followed, and the realization of Pamina's birth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once, on a Darkened Road

Deep in the heart of the temple, Sarastro retreated to his own chambers. His shoulders sagged with exhaustion as he removed the sun disk from around his neck. The room had barely any ceiling; instead, a portal, a window to the sky filled the air above the room. During the day bright, splendid sunlight sent beams into every corner, glinting off of the gold that lacquered nearly everything in the temple’s inner sanctum. But now it was night and the night, as always, made him think of her.

They had been together only once. In the deep blackness of the new moon he had met her along the road as he’d traveled. A strange glow seemed to emanate from her pale skin, her dark, silky hair providing the perfect contrast. Her eyes had been pools of blackness and her voice – never before had he heard a voice so full of passion. Their connection had been instantaneous, and for a few, glorious hours he’d felt as though she was his. She’d surrendered herself to him with ease and had driven all thought of his true purpose and calling from his mind. When the sun rose she had gone and it was only later when he’d reached the temple he'd called home, that he realized the enormity of his mistake.

He sometimes thought she had seduced him. Certainly she was cunning enough to do so. He knew she would stoop to any level in order to sate her lust for power. In those moments he found himself almost hating her and yet it was impossible to forget the way she clung to him or the taste of her lips on his. He recognized that he was guilty of wantonness, that blaming her for what had happened was hypocritical. But he also understood the shame of his actions; as leader of the temple’s brotherhood, his weak-willed submission to the charm of a woman was something that could never be spoken of. And so for years he had thrust the incident from his mind. That is, until he saw her…

Long, glossy hair…pale skin…sparkling eyes – eyes so like her mother's and yet with a warmth the Queen’s had never possessed. She shined in the sunlight, a princess of nature, and from the moment he saw her he knew. He ought to have felt rage at the Queen’s deception, hiding her from him all those years, but he felt nothing of the kind. A strange longing had filled him, a longing to hold her and keep her safe and warm. Once again, he’d let his feelings cloud his judgment. He’d spirited her away from her mother only to find that she was terrified of him. In the years since her birth the Queen had impressed upon her the dangers that men of the order posed to her, and the poor girl was desperate to escape him and return to her mother once more. His guilt was all consuming. He could not let her go, for if he did he was sure he would never get to see her again. He could not allow her sweetness to be marred by the cruel avarice of her mother. There was yet time to teach her the ways of goodness and light. And so he kept her captive, and hated himself for it.

He sighed, turning away from the portal to the sky. Though he hated to admit it, the Queen had been right to warn Pamina of the dangers men posed. He himself would certainly never harm any innocent, particularly not his own child, but nonetheless Pamina’s stay in the temple had been marred by violence. His jaw clenched as he thought of the servant Monastatos forcing himself upon the helpless princess. He could never allow such a thing to happen to her again. 

A sudden banging on the door to his rooms startled him out of his reverie. “My Lord,” cried a voice from outside, “Come quickly – an enemy presence has been detected in the temple.”

Sarastro closed his eyes. Now that he bothered to open up his senses, he felt an all too familiar presence in the room where Pamina had so recently lain asleep. He threw open the door and strode down the stone hallway, his fear for his daughter’s safety mixed with the tiniest shred of hope – a hope that he might, perhaps, catch a glimpse of the tall, dark-eyed woman he still secretly thought of as his Queen.


End file.
